A safer, greener, quieter, cooler gun range

Indoor facility has several safety features and well-scrubbed, air-conditioned air

By LEE WILLIAMS

John Buchan may have one of the safest indoor shooting ranges ever designed.

Buchan, owner of High Noon Guns, traveled the country examining indoor ranges before he built his own.

He designed a nine-lane operation that is quieter than most, thanks to sound-dampening panels, and safer than most, thanks to strategically placed armored steel plates, which are artfully concealed behind wooden walls to give the range an Old West feel.

Bullets are absorbed by a large mound of granulated rubber material heaped into a pile downrange, which is backed up by more steel plate capable of defeating a 20mm cannon, although Buchan limits the range to handguns and .22 rifles.

The dividers between the shooters feature more armor, concealed by wood -- a feature Buchan chose to increase safety.

The walls are lined with sound-dampening panels that are built to both reduce noise and absorb a stray round, preventing ricochets.

"It's as safe as we could make it," Buchan said.

The range has very clean air, a must for an indoor shooting operation.

"We've got three fans and two air conditioner units," he said, adding that all the gunsmoke is blown downrange before its scrubbed and vented.

"I like it," said John Terrenzi, who visited the range for the first time Tuesday to shoot his Ruger .22 and 9mm CZ pistols. "For an indoor range, it's quiet."

Buchan built several shooting lanes wider than the others -- better for instructors to teach one-on-one with new shooters.

"They're also handicapped accessible," Buchan said.

His retail space has doubled in size since he expanded, and offers hard-to-find modern sporting rifles and even harder-to-find ammunition.

"We just got 50,000 rounds of 9mm, and we're getting 50,000 rounds of .22 long rifle next month," he said.